Irish athletics braced for doping storm after failed test claims

IRISH athletics is facing a doping scandal heading into the Olympic Games with unconfirmed reports that a prominent athlete has failed an out-of-competition drugs test carried out last month.

The name of the athlete cannot be released for legal reasons. The results of the test should have been made known by now to the athlete and the federation, in this case Athletics Ireland, and the necessary procedures will have to be followed, beginning with a hearing which should be held over the coming week.

The athlete will have the right to have the “B” sample analysed in the presence of a representative and a representative of the Federation.

The athlete then has the right to a tribunal hearing which must be set up by either Athletics Ireland or the Irish Sports Council.

Should the “B” sample also prove positive then the athlete will face an automatic ban. The length of the ban will depend on the substance and the seriousness of the offence.

The ban can be appealed to WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) or CAS (the Court of Arbitration for Sport).

Conditions for such an appeal are also laid down in the rules of competition but a claim that the banned substance was inadvertently taken as part of another substance is seldom successful these days. There is the Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) clause in the case of medication prescribed by a doctor but, in that case, it would have been the responsibility of the athlete to complete the necessary documentation in advance of taking the substance.

With just a couple of high-profile cases some years ago, Irish athletics, and Irish sport in general, has been relatively free from drugs scandals.

In fact Ireland has been to the forefront in the worldwide fight against drugs in sport, with Dr Una May, Anti-Doping Director with the Irish Sports Council, regarded as one of the world’s leading authorities on the issue.

The subject of bans for drug use has been in focus again recently as Britain considers its position. For the last 20 years any British athlete found guilty of taking performance-enhancing drugs has been banned from competing for Britain in the Olympics, but a court hearing scheduled for March 17 could see the ban lifted.